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Poster:	billbarstad	Date:	May 05, 2010 05:32:26am
Forum:	feature_films	Subject:	Re: Is 'The Black Cat' (1934) PD?

Wow! Thanks for your work. I think that pre-1964 movies had to be renewed in the 28th year after publication, though I couldn't find a link to Video-Cellar or anyone else stating that. I think they also needed a proper copyright notice on the film. So some of these Universal films may be PD. To check The Senator Was Indiscreet, A Double Life, and Hungry Hill one would need a copy of the films. Believe me, IMDb does make mistakes on dates.

If your interested, Video-Cellar also mentioned MGM 1951, RKO [1931], various Hal Roach Studios 1940s, Fox [1946], and pre-1950 UA films as being plum ground for looking for PD movies, and I could make some lists.

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Poster:	billbarstad	Date:	May 05, 2010 09:22:10am
Forum:	feature_films	Subject:	Re: Is 'The Black Cat' (1934) PD?

here's a link to what Video-Cellar had to say on renewals and copyright notices.

Video-Cellar says A Double Life was properly renewed, so I'd say The Senator Was Indiscreet was too. Hungry Hill is a different matter. If it was released in 1947 as Universal Pictures claims and IMDb shows, but renewed in 1976, then it's renewal is invalid. It's PD.

This post was modified by billbarstad on 2010-05-05 16:22:10

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Poster:	Moongleam	Date:	May 05, 2010 09:13:09am
Forum:	feature_films	Subject:	Re: Is 'The Black Cat' (1934) PD?

For "The Senator Was Indiscreet", the IMDB release-date page shows:
USA 26 December 1947 (New York City, New York) (premiere)
The opening credits show:
COPYRIGHT MCMXLVII BY INTER-JOHN, INCORPORATED

By the way, I think that if the date in the copyright notice differs from the actual date of publication, the earlier of the two dates is used to determine when the copyright expires.

If you'll make a list of Fox [1946], I'll have my program do the search. (I don't want to search for films after 1949 because that would have to be done manually at the .gov website.)

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Poster:	billbarstad	Date:	May 05, 2010 09:41:50am
Forum:	feature_films	Subject:	Re: Is 'The Black Cat' (1934) PD?

It's a short list:

# My Darling Clementine (1946) ... Distributor (2003) (USA) (DVD), Distributor (2007) (USA) (DVD)
# Anna and the King of Siam (1946) ... Distributor (2003) (USA) (VHS)
# Dressed to Kill (1946) ... Distributor (2005) (USA) (DVD)
# Dragonwyck (1946) ... Distributor (2008) (USA) (DVD)
# Terror by Night (1946) ... Distributor (2005) (USA) (DVD) (colorized)
# Shock (1946) ... Distributor (2006) (USA) (DVD)

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Poster:	Moongleam	Date:	May 05, 2010 10:26:28am
Forum:	feature_films	Subject:	Re: Is 'The Black Cat' (1934) PD?

Three weren't renewed, but they are already here.


*************************************
* ** *
* MY DARLING CLEMENTINE ** 1946 *
* ** *
*************************************

-------------------------- 1974-A.TXT --------------------------
0.000
R568OO6.
My darling Clementine. 10 reels.
(C) l60ct46; L755. Twentieth Century
Fox Film Corporation (PWH); 10Jan74;
R568006.

-------------------------- 1974-B.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1973-A.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1973-B.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1975-A.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1975-B.txt --------------------------
[No matches.]

*****************************************
* ** *
* ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM ** 1946 *
* ** *
*****************************************

-------------------------- 1974-A.TXT --------------------------
0.040
R568004.
Anna and the King of Slam.
14 reels. (C) 20Jun46; L753. Twentieth
Century Fox Film Corporation (PWH);
10Jan74; R568004.

-------------------------- 1974-B.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1973-A.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1973-B.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1975-A.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1975-B.txt --------------------------
[No matches.]

*******************************
* ** *
* DRESSED TO KILL ** 1946 *
* ** *
*******************************

-------------------------- 1974-A.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1974-B.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1973-A.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1973-B.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1975-A.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1975-B.txt --------------------------
[No matches.]

**************************
* ** *
* DRAGONWYCK ** 1946 *
* ** *
**************************

-------------------------- 1974-A.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1974-B.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1973-A.TXT --------------------------
0.000
DRAGONWYCK, a photoplay in 11 reels by
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
(C) 2Apr46; L442. Twentieth Century-
Fox Film Corp. (PWH); 26Apr73;
R551216.

-------------------------- 1973-B.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1975-A.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1975-B.txt --------------------------
[No matches.]

*******************************
* ** *
* TERROR BY NIGHT ** 1946 *
* ** *
*******************************

-------------------------- 1974-A.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1974-B.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1973-A.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1973-B.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1975-A.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1975-B.txt --------------------------
[No matches.]

*********************
* ** *
* SHOCK ** 1946 *
* ** *
*********************

-------------------------- 1974-A.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1974-B.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1973-A.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1973-B.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1975-A.TXT --------------------------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1975-B.txt --------------------------
[No matches.]

renewed MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946)
renewed ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM (1946)
not renewed DRESSED TO KILL (1946)
renewed DRAGONWYCK (1946)
not renewed TERROR BY NIGHT (1946)
not renewed SHOCK (1946)

3 of 6 renewed.
50%

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Poster:	billbarstad	Date:	May 05, 2010 01:48:42pm
Forum:	feature_films	Subject:	Re: Is 'The Black Cat' (1934) PD?

Dragonwyck was renewed a year early, it's PD, too!

This post was modified by billbarstad on 2010-05-05 20:48:42

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Poster:	billbarstad	Date:	May 05, 2010 01:55:31pm
Forum:	feature_films	Subject:	Re: Is 'The Black Cat' (1934) PD?

Video-Cellar lists it as copyright. What am I not getting here?

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Poster:	Moongleam	Date:	May 05, 2010 03:14:52pm
Forum:	feature_films	Subject:	Re: Is 'The Black Cat' (1934) PD?

It seems to be ok to renew a bit early. See Video-Cellar's post regarding "Dark City" (1950) here.

-------------------------- 1977-A.txt -------
[No matches.]
-------------------------- 1977-B.txt -------
0.000
R682938.
Dark City. (c) 6Oct50; LP392. Paramount
Pictures Corporation (PWH); 3Nov77;
R682938.